Future Design: Incorporating Preferences of Future Generations for Sustainability
- 5h 10m
- Tatsuyoshi Saijo
- Springer
- 2020
This book discusses imaginary future generations and how current decision-making will influence those future generations. Markets and democracies focus on the present and therefore tend to make us forget that we are living in the present, with ancestors preceding and descendants succeeding us. Markets are excellent devices to equate supply and demand in the short term, but not for allocating resources between current and future generations, since future generations do not exist yet. Democracy is also not “applicable” for future generations, since citizens vote for candidates who will serve members of their, i.e., the current, generation. In order to overcome these shortcomings, the authors discusses imaginary future generations and future ministries in the context of current decision-making in fields such as the environment, urban management, forestry, water management, and finance. The idea of imaginary future generations comes from the Native American Iroquois, who had strong norms that compelled them to incorporate the interests of people seven generations ahead when making decisions.
About the Author
Tatsuyoshi Saijo received his master's degree in Economics from Hitotsubashi University in 1978 and his Ph.D. from the University of Minnesota in 1985. He was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Economics, University of California, Santa Barbara (1986–1991); Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and then a Professor at the Institute of Socio-Economic Planning, University of Tsukuba (1988–1996); Postdoctoral Fellow at the Center in Political Economy, Washington University in St. Louis (1989); Professor at the Institute of Social and Economic Research, Osaka University (1995–2013); Visiting Scholar at the Rational Choice Center, Department of Economics, Duke University (1999); Faculty Fellow at the Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry (2001–2004); Research Associate at the California Institute of Technology (2002–2003); Professor at the Research Institute for Sustainability Science, Osaka University (2006–2010); Research Professor and then specially appointed Professor at the Center for Environmental Innovation Design for Sustainability, Osaka University (2011–2015); and Professor at the Institute of Economic Research, Hitotsubashi University (2015–2016) before assuming his present position at the Kochi University of Technology and the Research Institute for Humanity and Nature (RIHN). He has been a member of the Science Council of Japan since 2014, and was Project Leader for Experimental Social Science at the Ministry of Education, Japan (2007–2013) and Vice-President of the Economic Science Association (2010–2014).
In this Book
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Future Design—An Introduction
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Asymmetrical Reciprocity in Intergenerational Justice
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Future Generations Correcting Markets and Democracy—Research Needs in Future Design
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Backcasting for Envisioning Sustainable Futures Across Multiple Generations
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Designing the Ministry of the Future
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Science, Technology & Innovation and Future Design
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What Are Urban Development and Urban Design for a Sustainable Society?
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Future Design for Sustainable Water Resource Use from the Perspective of Ground Water Management
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Sustainable Water Works and the Future Design of Yahaba
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Looking to the Future Based on the History of Water and Atmospheric Environmental Issues in Japan
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Capitalism and Sustainability Dilemmas
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Compassion for Future Generation Is Not Only for Others’ Benefit—Solving the Problems with Long-Term Fiscal Policies
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Why Is Future Design Needed in Japan? Public Finance Perspective
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The Need for a “Future Design” View of Forest Management—A Focus on the Current Situation of Forestry and Wood Utilization in Japan
